The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c22.28

v4.c22.28

As depicted in the chronicles Sher Shāh stands out as a masterful and tireless administrator of the Indian type, attending personally to every detail of the business of his kingdom, and introducing large changes of system in what would now be thought a very summary manner; but his reign was too short to furnish a final test of the suitability of the measures he introduced. He stands out also as the only ruler of northern India who is known to have acquired practical experience in the detailed work of assessing and collecting revenue, for as a young man he had brought into order the assignment held by his father from the Lodī dynasty. The chronicler’s account of his activities at this time shows that he had already accepted the principles which later on he was to apply on a larger scale in northern India; he believed in maintaining direct relations with the individual peasants, he distrusted the village headmen, and he regarded equitable assessment and strict collection as the two essentials of revenue administration.